1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to the field of spurs for horseback and bull riders. More specifically, the present invention discloses a rubber coated rowel that, when mounted on a spur, will not lacerate or injure the hide of a horse or bull.
2. Background Art.
Spurs, attached to the footwear of a rider, have long been used to goad horses and bulls. A spur has commonly included a U-shaped portion that fits around the heel of a riding boot, held on by straps across the top and bottom of the instep, a rearwardly extending, bifurcated shank, and a rowel pivotably mounted on a pin or screw spanning the aperture between the bifurcations of the shank. The rowel has been generally made of rigid metal, and has included a plurality of circumferentially-spaced, radial arms extending from a central, bored portion. While a horse or bull was being ridden, particularly when attempting to throw a rider in a rodeo, the arms of the rowel would scrape against the hide of the animal, sometimes causing lacerations and bleeding. Such injuries have occasioned protests to rodeo competitions by "animal rights" advocates. For the comfort and health of the animals themselves, as well as for the continued viability of rodeo competitions, it is desirable to use rowels in spurs that do not lacerate or otherwise injure the animals.
McKinney, U.S. Pat. No. 2,487,461, disclosed an ornamental resilient spur suitable for use on a dance floor, made entirely from soft flexible material such as rubber or a suitable plastic composition, one version of which included a soft rubber rowel. McDonald, U.S. Pat. No. 2,484,898, disclosed a toy spur, for use by boys playing cowboy, having a U-shaped body of pliable rubber-like material and an imitation rowel pivotally-mounted at the rear thereof also of rubber-like material. The rowels disclosed in these patents, being made entirely of soft flexible material, lacked adequate rigidity to be adapted for use in riding a horse or bull.
There remains, therefore, a need for an improved rowel that will not lacerate a horse or bull, and that is less likely to otherwise injure the animal--e.g., by bruising.